


softly burning through our youth

by glueskin



Series: goodbye, summer wars [1]
Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: 11 Year Olds With PTSD Finding Their Footing After Escaping Their Groundhog Day Loop Full Of Murder, Codependency, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Post-Summertime Record, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:33:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glueskin/pseuds/glueskin
Summary: hibiya and hiyori go home. it isn't as simple as it sounds.
Relationships: Amamiya Hibiya & Asahina Hiyori
Series: goodbye, summer wars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783648
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	softly burning through our youth

**Author's Note:**

> hi...yes....this is very short i know...but i was rereading kagepro and my brainworms would not be silenced so i decided to start writing/posting stuff from my post-str ideas
> 
> so im doing that

“I don’t want to go home,” Hiyori says quietly in the middle of the night.  
  
They’re sharing a futon in Momo’s room. Momo is downstairs; Shintaro had woken in a panic an hour ago and Momo had followed him down.  
  
They have to go home. Tomorrow, in less than twelve hours, they have to get on a train and go back—their families are expecting them.  
  
“...I don’t remember what my parents look like,” Hibiya whispers.  
  
He doesn’t. Their faces seem distant and blurred; memories from before the past several days feel out of reach.  
  
It’s been years since he saw them. Years and yet only days. What were they like? His father was—is—stern, he thinks. His mother is more laid back. She had taught him how to cook.  
  
Hiyori is silent at his side. Her warmth bleeds into him; her hand is curled around his wrist, as it has been all night.  
  
“Neither can I,” she finally admits.  
  
_I’m scared_ , Hibiya wants to say. Will he recognize his mother and father? Will they recognize _him_?  
  
He doesn’t say it, though. He can’t bring himself to. Eventually Hiyori pushes off the cover of the futon and the two stand on shaky legs to go downstairs as well.  
  
Hibiya checks his phone on their way down the stairs, Hiyori’s grip on him unyielding.  
  
He already knows the date. He already knows, but seeing _August 20th_ in solid white text over his lockscreen is comforting.

* * *

Home doesn’t feel like home.  
  
Hibiya has to refamiliarize himself with his own bedroom, with his house, with the dojo—with his own parents.  
  
They’re at a loss, he knows. They navigate around him and Hiyori so strangely at first. They have questions they can’t bring themselves to ask; Ayano had explained what she could, the day she and Seto had escorted Hibiya and Hiyori home.  
  
Her father had been unwell since her mother’s death. No, Hiyori hadn’t known. Nobody had. She brought with her a copy of the official police reports; the truck, the kidnapping, the hostage situation, the odd evidence of experiments on Takane and Haruka which had no basis in reality and which fuelled the official story of Kenjirou’s delusion.  
  
He and Hiyori go to school together every day. On days with no classes Hibiya takes to his father’s kendo lessons in a way he never had before; Hiyori joins the dojo as well, to the shock of many.  
  
They both go to therapy. Once a month, an hour away in a small city—Hibiya’s father had been on the fence at first, traditionalist that he is. Only days after Hibiya’s return, the sight of him flying into a panic at the sound of a distant truck had convinced him to relent on the matter.  
  
So they go to therapy where they can only tell half of the truth, though that half is traumatizing enough; Hibiya picks up his grades so he can apply to the same middle schools as Hiyori. He doesn’t tell his parents he’s applying to school in Kaniwa. He knows they’ll object.  
  
He and Hiyori both call Momo once a week together, without fail; they keep up with everyone in a group chat. On bad days Ene will email herself to one of their phones.  
  
Hibiya brings his everywhere. He keeps a portable charger, just in case, and when Hiyori is out of sight—when he can’t see her and know for sure she’s _here_ and not _there_ —he stares instead at the clock on his phone, at the pixelated numbers counting minutes and seconds.  
  
August becomes September. September becomes October. The autumn harvest comes; Hiyori helps the local shrine in their ceremonies. Hibiya helps his mother prepare food for the festival.  
  
They try to leave summer behind.

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact i love coffee and my username is glueskin


End file.
